Week 16: My Final Week in Florence

So I can't believe my time in Florence has come to an end. I'm sitting on my bed at home, and Florence seems so far away. Though I wanted this post to be a really thoughtful one, I'm still pretty jet lagged and am trying to get everything written down before I go to sleep.

After Cinque Terre, it was back to the reality of finals week. Monday I finally had to finish Siddhartha and write my paper for World Religions, as well as make a study guide for the exam the next day. I got the paper done around dinner time, and was going to start my study guide when Ashley invited me to eat with her, Gerald, and Fani at Pizza Man, a restaurant that is a block away that is supposed to have really good pizza. I was very curious to check it out, so I ended up going. The food was actually really good... we even got little appetizers and aperitifs before our meal, it was nice. After dinner, they ended up hanging out in our apartment for a little while because Gerald had bought wine, so I ended up procrastinating my study guide for a little while longer before getting to it.

I had to wake up early on Tuesday to study some more before my World Religions exam. It ended up being pretty easy, since I knew exactly what would be on it. That night, I studied for Art History as much as I could, and I even made a study guide for Wine Appreciation and tried to study that. It was really hard for me to get myself to concentrate, because at this point, I was already wanting to be done with it all. Wine ended up being a bit more difficult than I thought it would be, but I think I did well on the blind taste testing part (the wine ended up being Brunello). After class, I had some time before Art History, so since it was really nice out, I sat at the Santa Croce and studied some more. That exam ended up being easier than I thought, and when it was over, I felt more relieved. However, I was not yet done- I still had a Cooking exam and Italian.

Leaving our mark at Lion's Den

Thursday, I was nervous for the cooking exam, and the test itself wasn't so easy, but the cooking part wasn't so terrible. She had us cook the first thing we ever made in the class: Crespelles alla Fiorentina (crepes with spinach and ricotta). I was hoping we'd make this again because I really enjoyed it. As soon as we were done with our exams, we started the cooking. I ended up helping out more than I thought, but mostly there wasn't much for all of us to do at once. The crepe ended up going well, needed some more seasoning we were told, but I think that it was pretty good. Afterwards, I picked  up a few last minute gifts at the San Lorenzo market before going back to the apartment to nap and quickly review Italian. The Italian exam was not bad at all, and then 45 mins later, I was done! Later, Katie and I went to Pino's for one last delicious panino, since Ashley's family had arrived that night.

Sunset over Piazzale Michelangelo

That night, Ashley, Gerald, Fani and I went to Eby's for one last shot (and Gerald and Fani's first), and then we went to Lion's Den and wrote on the wall, and then went to Twice. The next day was packing day, and before getting to that, Ashley and I went to a different sandwich place and got another panino which was also delicious. We wanted to go to Pino's but the line was sooo long full of students wanting the same exact thing before they left Italy. Afterwards, I had to print out my itinerary and pick up an envelope and stamp to send back my sim card in my Italian cell phone. After napping for a little, I finally packed up everything. The three of us plus Ashley's brother then went up to Piazzale Michelangelo once more (that was my 6th time) and we drank wine and watched the sun set. We ended up going to Pizzaiolo for dinner, the same place we went on our first night after moving in, and it brought back so many memories. Afterwards, Katie and I went to touch the boars nose near the H&M for "good luck" and then I took a nap before going out once more with Ash, Gerald, and Fani to Kikuya for one more Dragoon. It was pretty bittersweet that whole night. I was reminiscing but also thinking about getting home already.

The boar and me.

I had to wake up extremely early Saturday morning (6 am) for a 7:00 shuttle to the airport. The check-in line was so long, but I finally made it through. Meghan was on my flight which was nice, and I got to Paris around 12:30. I only had an hour before my next flight so I was slightly worried, but I made it. The plane was double decker, which was pretty strange to me, and then once on that plane I felt a lot better. I ended up watching The Artist, and The Prestige which I had wanted to see on the way to Paris and they were both amazing. I also re-watched Crazy, Stupid, Love since I didn't want to sleep. Once I landed, I realized one of my bags (with most of my clothes) hadn't made it on the flight, so after waiting a while, I had to get it sent to me and claim it as lost. Luckily for me, it came tonight!

all my bags!

 So that's my story, didn't think I'd actually finish this blog. I wanted to write more of a reflection for my last entry, but I'm just so tired and can't really think straight. Tomorrow I'm going up to Muhlenberg for Senior Week and I'm excited and nervous to see everyone. Anyway, that is all for now, I will try to add one more entry when I get back next week.. but theres a possibility I wont. Ciao!!!